Chris Page
BBC News NI Political Correspondent

The Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has reiterated that the border backstop "can’t have an expiry date".

However, during question time in the Irish Parliament he re-iterated that it was the Irish government’s intention that the backstop should never have to be invoked.

The Taoiseach acknowledged that it was a "difficult time" for unionists in Northern Ireland, and that they might feel "vulnerable".

But he said: "I want to say to them that the Good Friday Agreement will be protected, and that includes the fact that we respect the territorial integrity of the UK."

Sinn Fein’s Pearse Doherty told Irish MPs that the leaders of his party would be speaking on the phone with Theresa May after 17:00 GMT.

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Conservative veteran pro-European Ken Clarke says that among the rumours of a Brexit deal being reached, one is that if the Cabinet agrees the draft agreement, the government proposes "later today" to publish a white paper setting out the details.

He asks for an assurance that, if and when a deal is published, a statement will be made in Parliament to MPs.

"It is this Parliament that is going to have to decide now what to do next," he says, and MPs don't want to only be consulted after "another 24 hours of rumours and criticism".

He says "we must re-establish parliamentary sovereignty" and wishes the PM well in achieving a majority for "some course of action in future which is in the national interest".

Theresa May says there are "potentially two stages" in the process. Cabinet will be looking at the draft agreements today, she says, and will determine the next steps in the national interest.

She will return to Parliament in order to explain the outcome of that.

When a final deal is agreed proper analysis will be available before the meaningful vote takes place, with briefings available for MPs, so they are able to take an informed decision.

Mark D'Arcy
Parliamentary Correspondent

The SNP’s Westminster leader accuses the PM of trying to use procedural tricks to stop Opposition amendments to the Commons promised “meaningful vote” on Brexit.

And then he segues into a call to give Scotland the same special protections extended to Northern Ireland… this is a problematic issue for Scottish Conservative MPs.

This is another vulnerability for the government.

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Labour MP Chris Elmore says "the prime minister's likely Brexit will leave the UK economically weaker and will give the EU more power without the UK having any say".

And he notes that these are not his words, but the words of the latest ministerial resignation.

He asks Theresa May to admit "there is no support for her reckless plan in cabinet and even less in Parliament".

Theresa May says: "The proposals we put forward in the summer do ensure we see frictionless trade across borders and gives Parliament a lock on those rules."

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SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford says his party and other opposition leaders are urging the government to drop plans to stop opposition amendments to the vote on the final Brexit deal.

"What is she so afraid of?" he asks. Is she so weak that she won't consider the other options that are still on the table?

Mrs May says there will be a meaningful vote and it will be amendable, but the public would "expect Parliament to vote on the deal" itself.

Mr Blackford says they would expect Parliament to take its responsibility to scrutinise government seriously. He says the PM is "reduced to political games rather than playing fair".

There is only one lifeline left, he says.

"We must stay in the single market and customs union." The SNP will not allow the government to drag the UK out of that arrangement and gamble with Scotland's future, he says.

If there is a deal to protect the economy of Northern Ireland, there must be a deal to protect Scotland as well, he says.

The SNP gambles with Scotland's future every single time it talks about independence, the PM responds.

Mark D'Arcy
Parliamentary Correspondent

Jeremy Corbyn has seen some backlash against his comment that Brexit could not be stopped, and is beginning to sound quite Remain-y, while promising to respect the Referendum verdict.

Arch Brexiteer backbencher Peter Bone weighs in with a direct warning to the PM that if the deal she has agreed is as reported, she will lose the support of many Tory MPs…… this is what the government side will have feared: attacks from behind her, rather than the benches opposite.

Mr Bone looks unconvinced by the reassurances she offers.

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Tory MP and Brexiteer Peter Bone says to Theresa May that if the media reports about the EU agreement is in any way accurate "you are not delivering the Brexit people voted for and today you will lose the support of many Conservative MPs and many supporters across the country".

Prime Minister Theresa May says: "What we have been negotiating is a deal that does deliver on the vote of the British people."

She says "the British people are keen to see an end to free movement which is something we ensure we will deliver on".

"What we are doing is a deal that delivers on the vote but also maintains the integrity of the UK," she adds.

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Jeremy Corbyn says "Labour respects the result of the referendum" but does not "respect the shambolic mess this government has made of the negotiations".

He says he won't let the government "destroy" the country's chances of a good economy.

He asks the PM to tell the Brexit Secretary that Dover handles 17% of the UK's total trade in goods. He says Mr Raab's ignorance is "worrying to so many people".

"Even Conservative MPs say the prime minister is offering a choice between the worst of all worlds."

He asks when she will see that neither of the options are acceptable.

Mrs May says the "real threat" to jobs and growth in the UK "sits on the Labour Party front bench". She says the government "will not re-run the referendum" and the UK will leave the customs union, Common Fisheries Policy and Common Agricultural Policy.

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Jeremy Corbyn says "many in the cabinet don't understand a few things", referring to the Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab saying recently that he had not previously understood the sheer extent of the importance of the Dover to Calais crossing for trade in goods.

"When did the PM become aware of this shocking revelation about British trade routes?" he asks.

Theresa May says: "We do know about trade policy, that's exactly why we're negotiating the continuity agreements and why we'll be taking our place in the World Trade Organisation.

"We're delivering Brexit, but what have we seen from the Labour Party - Jeremy Corbyn says 'we can't stop Brexit' and the shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer says 'we can'."

Theresa May asks for Jeremy Corbyn to confirm if it is Labour party policy to stop Brexit.

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Jeremy Corbyn says the PM's "non-answer" has confirmed that "Parliament won't have that sovereign right" to end any backstop.

He says the International Trade Secretary had bragged that he would have 40 trade deals agreed for the second after the UK leaves the EU.

"How many of these 40 deals have been negotiated?" he asks.

The PM says the government is negotiating to maintain the trade deals that currently exist with the European Union, but had also started discussions with other countries for future trade deals.

She says Labour needs to sort their position on the issue, saying they want to agree new trade deals but also stay in the single market, which she says is not possible.

"We know what's good for this country," she says.

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Jeremy Corbyn says that under the PM's deal the UK will spend "years with less say over our laws or how our money is spent".

He asks if the PM can confirm that her deal means the UK will have the sovereign right to withdraw from any backstop.

Mrs May says that there needs to be a backstop "as an insurance policy", but "neither side wants us to be in that backstop".

She says she is "aware of the concerns" that the EU would want to keep the UK in the backstop permanently.

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Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn says "after the shambles of the last two years, the PM should look to herself as she hasn't managed to convince quite a lot of people behind her."

Jeremy Corbyn says that the rail minister - Jo Johnson - resigned last week saying "to present the nation with a choice between two deeply unattractive outcomes is a failure of British statecraft on a scale unseen since the Suez crisis".

He says that last night EU lead Brexit negotiators reportedly told the 27 European ambassadors that "the UK must align their rules but the EU will retains all the controls".

He asks if this is a fair summary.

The prime minister says "we are negotiating a good deal for the United Kingdom, a deal that delivers on the vote of the British people, that takes back control."

"We leave the customs union, leave the Common Agriculture Policy, but we protect jobs, security and the integrity of the United Kingdom."